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Royals promote Francisco, Sharp and Vena

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Press Release |

The Kansas City Royals and Senior Vice President/General Manager Dayton Moore today announced three promotions in the Baseball Operations department: Rene Francisco to Assistant General Manager-International Operations, Scott Sharp to Director of Player Development and Kyle Vena to Assistant Director of Player Development.

“I am extremely proud of the great work by our Scouting and Player Development departments,” said Moore. “Rene, Scott and Kyle have been instrumental in our success and we look forward to their continued leadership in these vital roles.”

“Scott has done an excellent job leading our player development department and has earned the complete respect of our staff,” said Royals’ Assistant General Manager-Scouting & Player Development J.J. Picollo. “We are confident he will build on the success that we’ve established with player development the past several years. Kyle has an excellent understanding of both the draft and player development and this new position will allow him to develop new creative ideas to improve all areas of the department. This position fits his strengths and abilities well and we’re delighted that he will continue to be an asset to the organization.”

Francisco joined the Royals in 2006 as special assistant to the General Manager/International Operations. Francisco has turned the club’s International Operations department into one of the best in baseball, producing talented players such as catcher Salvador Perez, pitcher Kelvin Herrera and numerous high-profile prospects.

Sharp, a native of Sykesville, Md., joined the Royals organization in 2006 as assistant director of player development and was promoted to director of minor league operations in 2008. Under Sharp’s leadership, the Royals have consistently been ranked as one of the top farm systems in baseball, including landing the top spot in 2011, according to Baseball America.

Vena, a Kansas City native who just finished his 17th season in the organization, has worked the last two seasons as assistant to player development and scouting. Vena began his career as a batboy before moving to assist day-to-day clubhouse operations and then made the transition to baseball operations in 2005.